


Interactions with the Not-so-Empty Air

by MalecAcid



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Families of Choice, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Good Friend Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), I love them so much, Idk how to tag this but basically its just pure fluff and carlos and reggie bonding, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 01, cant forget that tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-21 23:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30029505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalecAcid/pseuds/MalecAcid
Summary: They had decided to start the so-called pranking off small, only having Reggie knock a few tiny things over while Ray was around, and then they moved onto other things, and though those things were much less ghost-ly and disturbing, they were also far more noticeable.ORReggie and Carlos are a dynamic duo and Carlos doesn't want to do his chores.
Relationships: Carlos Molina & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters, Ray Molina & Reggie Peters
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	Interactions with the Not-so-Empty Air

**Author's Note:**

> So!! I don't really know how I feel about this fic?? When I first wrote it I hated it but then when I edited it it was meh?? I hope that it's okay and that you like it!! 
> 
> Also I made the title up myself this time 😌😌 and no warnings for this fic!!

Really, the idea of pranking Ray hadn't started out with Reggie just doing all of Carlo's chores, but he wasn't exactly surprised that it had ended up that way. 

As soon as Carlos had found out about the boys, he started interacting and communicating with them as much as he could, whether it was through Julie, flickering lights or pen and paper. And somehow, both Reggie and Carlos had come to the conclusion that they needed to confuse Ray a bit before Julie inevitably told him about them. 

Carlos was the one who suggested it one day while Julie and the guys weren't around, and Reggie quickly agreed, flicking the lights of the studio on and off twice to signal a yes, making Carlos' grin even wider than it was before. 

They had decided to start off small, only having Reggie knock a few tiny things over while Ray was around, or moving something slightly to the side while he wasn't looking. And then they moved onto other things, and though those things were much less ghost-ly and disturbing, they were also far more noticeable. 

It hadn't even started off as an idea for a prank. Truthfully, Reggie had been bored the entire day, and was just walking around the big house, the only person there being Julie who was upstairs in her room doing homework. He was told to not interrupt her under any circumstances, and he did not take that lightly, refusing to even go up the stairs at all. 

Alex was with Willie and Luke was visiting his parents, so he was left by himself while he waited for Carlos and Ray to get back from wherever they had gone. 

Wandering around the house acting more like a ghost than he ever had before had gotten boring pretty quickly though, and he gave up the wandering and headed to the kitchen to stare at the food in the cupboards and fridge. Usually that was Luke's thing, but all of them had times when they missed being able to eat food. 

Just as he started to push out sudden and unwanted thoughts of Caleb's club, something far away and pinned to the wall caught his eye. 

It was a bright post-it note that had been tacked to the wall, reading " _Carlos, do the dishes_ in scraggly handwriting. Reggie smiled a bit at the sight and turned away, but before he could leave the kitchen, he noticed the sink, still full of unwashed plates and bowls. 

His smile grew a little bit wider. He didn't know why, but he had always sort of liked cleaning. It was hard to drown in silence while the water was running when you washed plates, hard to get lost in your thoughts when the chemicals you were cleaning with burned your nose. 

It didn't take him long to finish up, and he was just stacking the last plate in the cabinets as a car pulled up in the driveway, a worn-out looking Carlos in soccer gear and Ray hopping out and making their way inside. 

"Hey guys!" He cheerfully greeted them as he always did, though he got no response. Carlos looked as if he was about to head towards the sink after he slipped off his shoes, but stopped in surprise and confusion when he saw that it was empty, before a smile started to grow on his face as he suddenly realized. 

"Carlos," Ray started as he walked closer to them, "Make sure you- wait, when did you do that?" 

"I uh," He said, thinking quickly for a coverup while Reggie held back laughter. This isn't what he intended, but he definitely wasn't complaining either. "I did it before we left. I thought I told you on the way there?" 

Ray hummed, shrugging slightly before turning away and heading to the living room. Carlos' grin grew even wider when he left, his head moving back and forth as he surveyed the room before speaking up. 

"One flicker for Alex, two flickers for Reggie and three flickers for Luke," He said simply, and Reggie moved to flick the light switch twice. Carlos only smiled even wider at that. Reggie didn't know why, but he seemed to have a soft spot for him. 

"Thanks for doing my chores," He said, and even though Reggie knew he couldn't see him or hear him, he shrugged. 

"You're welcome." 

"Hey, that kinda freaked my dad out. We should do pranks like this!" He said, excitement in his voice, and even though Reggie knew there was an ulterior motive of him just not wanting to do his chores, he couldn't help but reciprocate his excitement, moving the flick the light switch on and off several times in a row, making Carlos jump up and down and cheer as loudly as he could without Ray hearing. 

It didn't take too long for them to get caught in the act, though, when a few days later while Ray was at work Julie caught him taking out their trash. 

She had walked out of her room and down the stairs on an adventure for a snack, but stopped when she saw Reggie tying off their filled up trash bag and putting the post-it that read Carlos' name on it inside. 

Julie raised her eyebrows, speaking before he could move to lift the bag off of the floor. "What are you doing?" She asked, a laugh to her voice as she crossed her arms. 

Reggie whipped his head around to look at her, and she laughed at the way he looked like a criminal caught in the act rather than someone who had been caught taking out their trash. 

"I'm uh," He started, moving to stand in front of the trash bag, "Nothing?" He said, a lilt to his voice as if he was asking a question, and Julie laughed again, shaking her head. 

"Well, why are you doing this nothing?" She asked, and watched as he contemplated the sentence for a moment before answering. 

"Well, the answer to that question is definitely not that me and Carlos are messing with your dad, and the answer definitely is you've just been so busy with homework and I wanted to help!" 

She glared at him, but there was no anger or annoyance in it as she uncrossed her arms. "You know Carlos just wants someone else to do his chores right?"

"I know, but I have nothing else to do and it's fun being helpful!" He exclaimed, pouting jokingly, and she moved forward with a laugh, wrapping her arm around his shoulders in a side hug. 

"Thanks Reg," She said, squeezing him closer to her before letting go and pointing at him jokingly. "But if my dad finds out about you because of this I'm going to kill you. Again."

"You didn't kill us the first time!" Reggie said cheerfully, grabbing the bag off of the floor and moving to walk outside to throw it out, making Julie roll her eyes as she walked to the fridge to complete her quest for a snack. 

If her dad found out, she really was going to have to find some way to kill him again, along with her brother.

* * *

In the end, it only took two more weeks of the 'pranking' for Ray to find out. 

Reggie hadn't known that he was home so he went to do the dishes, but was stopped halfway through the process when he heard a quiet gasp and turned to see Ray standing in the doorway, staring at what he saw as a floating plate and sponge. 

Reggie had quickly set the stuff down gently into the sink, but the damage had already been done, and Ray was running upstairs to where he assumed was Julie's room. 

He barely managed to poof to her room and mutter a quiet apology before her dad burst in without knocking, making the door hit the wall with a loud bang, causing Julie to jump and glance at Reggie before turning to her dad and standing up. 

"Dad? What's wrong?" She asked, even though Reggie was pretty sure she knew since she turned to glare at him every time her dad wasn't looking. 

"There- there was a floating plate. And a sponge," He said, grabbing onto Julie's shoulders. "I think maybe your tía was right." 

Julie seemed to think for a moment, lost inside her head, before she sighed, a resigned look on her face when she looked back up at Ray. "Do you know where Carlos is?" 

He tilted his head at her, "In his room," He answered, "Why?" 

"Well I uh," She paused, moving to rub the back of her head sheepishly and throwing another quick glance at Reggie before continuing. "I think we have something we need to tell you."

* * *

In the end, things didn't turn out too badly. It had taken a while to get everyone in the same room for the conversation to happen and it took even longer for them to decide what song to put on so that Ray wouldn't think Julie was just seeing things. 

He ended up… taking it about as well as he possibly could've. There really was no guide for what to do when you suddenly find out there are three dead teenage boys living in your garage, but Reggie thought that he was doing pretty well. He didn't immediately kick them out, and really, that was all they needed. 

He had even ended up laughing a little when Carlos told him about the pranks he and Reggie had done to him, making both of them grin and the remaining three roll their eyes. 

Even though the way Ray found out about them had been a little surprising and unexpected, Reggie wouldn't give anything at all to change the way it had turned out. 

Slowly but surely, he began to get used to them and communicated with them just as Carlos did, and eventually, he considered them to be family too. 

(And any time something moved from around him after that, he would only smile, asking the air for a certain amount of lights to be flickered.)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked!!


End file.
